Sinks for kitchens, bathrooms, lavatories and other facilities come in a vast array of designs and several styles. Examples of sink styles include top-mount, under-mount and integral. Countertops and other sink surrounds likewise come in a variety of designs and a few styles. The two primary styles of surrounds are built-up and monolithic. A built-up surround generally includes a substrate onto which a surfacing is applied. The substrate is typically made of wood or wood composite material, such as plywood, particle board or flake board, among others. The surfacing is often either a surface laminate, e.g., a Formica® laminate available from Formica Corporation, Cincinnati, Ohio and equivalents thereto, or tile-work. A monolithic surround, on the other hand, is one in which the full thickness of the countertop is made of a single, self-supporting material, such as natural stone, e.g., soapstone, granite, marble, etc., synthetic stone, wood and polymeric materials, e.g., Corian® solid surfacing material available from E.I. DuPont de Nemours, Inc., Wilmington, Del. and equivalents thereto, and more recently, concrete, among others.
Generally, a top-mounted sink is installed in a surround, e.g., countertop, or other support structure having an opening that receives the bowl of the sink. The sink includes a peripheral flange that engages an upper surface of the surround so that the bowl is supported in the opening. An under-mount sink, on the other hand, is supported from the underside of the surround. An under-mount sink may or may not have a flange and may be secured to the underside of a surround in any of a variety of ways, such as by adhesive bonding and/or mechanical fastening. An integral sink is generally a sink that is made of the same material as the surround and that is joined to, or formed with, the countertop so as to form a seamless unit. Integral sinks and surrounds were originally single castings or moldings but, with the relatively recent advent of polymeric solid-surface materials, are now often made by virtually seamlessly joining pre-shaped sinks to corresponding like-material solid-surface surrounds.
Top-mounted sinks can be used with virtually any type of surround. This is so generally because top-mounted sinks have the advantage that the interface between their support flange and the surround is located on the upper surface of the surround. Consequently, this interface may be readily sealed to inhibit water infiltration. This is particularly important in the case of built-up surrounds since most built-up countertops comprise a non-waterproof substrate, e.g., particle board, flake board, etc., that, when exposed to liquid water, tends to wick in the water, thereby expanding and losing its integrity and strength. However, top-mounted sinks have the drawback that the presence of the flange on top of the surround typically presents an obstacle to squeegeeing any water present on the upper surface of the surround into the sink. In addition, top-mounted sinks may not be as aesthetically pleasing as other styles of sinks, at least in the eyes of some people.
Under-mount sinks eliminate the need for a flange on the upper surface of the surround and can present an aesthetically attractive sink. As mentioned, an under-mounted sink is secured to the underside of a surround, which leaves at least the peripheral edge of the sink opening in the surround exposed to water from the sink and other environmental elements. Thus, this peripheral edge frequently gets wet. Consequently, under-mount sinks are most easily used with monolithic surrounds in which the full thickness of the surrounds is occupied by a waterproof material that does not have the wicking and associated problems that built-up surrounds made using non-waterproof substrates can have.
Unfortunately, monolithic surrounds are typically relatively expensive compared to built-up surrounds. Therefore, use of under-mount sinks has been expanded to built-up surrounds in order to make desirable under-mount sink installations more affordable. However, water infiltration problems can arise at the edge of the sink opening in the built-up surround. If the surfacing is applied just right, the edge will be watertight. However, it is difficult to make the peripheral edge completely watertight. Consequently, installations of under-mount sinks to built-up surrounds are prone to substrate damage at the edge of the sink opening. This is particularly true in the case of laminated surrounds.
Others in the industry have recognized and attempted to deal with the water damage problem that can arise from installing an under-mount sink on a built-up surround. One solution that has been implemented is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,103 to Drozdowich et al. This solution involves forming a relatively narrow ring from a waterproof solid-surfacing material and installing this ring in an oversize opening in a substrate that undergirds the surround. The ring and opening in the substrate are configured with complementary bevels that require the ring to be installed from the underside of the substrate. (Such bevels are referred to herein as “reverse bevels.”) After the ring has been adhered into place, a sink is installed by securing the sink to the underside of the substrate, beyond the outer periphery of the ring. A surfacing material, such as a laminate or tile-work, is then installed on the upper surface of the substrate to finish the installation of the surround.
Although the Drozdowich et al. solution generally reduces the probability that the substrate will be damaged from water infiltrating from the region surrounding the sink opening in the ring, it has a number of drawbacks. For example, the ring is relatively narrow, such that there is relatively little overlap of the surfacing material with the ring. If the surfacing is not installed properly, water from the surface of the surround can reach the substrate. In addition, as mentioned, the ring must be installed from below the surround substrate due to the reverse bevels in the ring and substrate. This requires special installation techniques, such as clamping. Another drawback of the Drozdowich et al. solution is that the sink is secured to the substrate. Sometimes substrates used for surrounds have relatively low resistance to fastener pullout when compared to substrates made of other materials, such as a solid surfacing material. Yet another drawback of the Drozdowich et al. solution is that the sink must be installed after the ring. This may inconveniently constrain the number of ways an installer can choose to install such a sink or the ways in which sink installations can be componentized, e.g., for shipping or marketing purposes. Moreover, the peripheral edge of the sink opening is not the only location where water damage can occur. Water damage can also occur at the one or more openings where the faucet, hot and cold water supply lines, and/or other items, e.g., extendible sprayers, etc., extend through the countertop.